Russian rangers fight illegal trade in Siberian Tiger parts

On March 9, the Operative Customs of the Jewish Autonomous Republic (RFE) arrested two Chinese nationals carrying two incomplete sets of Siberian tiger bones. Once the language barrier was overcome, the Customs officials learned that the Chinese claimed to have bought the bones at a local market. The two men were made to pay fine equivalent to US $18, and let go.

The expertise will tell whether those bones belong to one tiger or two different ones. In the meantime, the bones were handed over to a local conservation agency.

Another seizure took place in Bikin town (Khabarovsk, RFE) on March 20, when the “Owl” Inspection Tiger team confiscated a Siberian Tiger skin from a local villager. The villager said the skin had been given to him for re-sale. Inspection tiger authorities have initiated investigations as to the parties involved.

This has been the second attempt to sell a tiger skin since the beginning of 2002.